The writings on the wall

Above my computer that I use as Pastor at Rock Spring Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, I have a card that states, “Seven Steps to God.” If only, right? However, I wouldn’t have kept the card if I hadn’t found the path it describes to fulfill its promise of helping me know the nearness of Christ in my daily life.

Herb Miller wrote the plan in 1996, but the path is ancient. It is so clearly marked that it arrives over and over again in every generation with a new name. In our lifetimes it has been “meditation,” and more recently, “mindfulness.” Self-help books and websites recite essentially the same steps. Most of these more secular cousins describe their guidance as leading to inner peace, or a higher power, or a higher consciousness.

The apostle Paul, speaking to the Athenians, said, “I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:23) This is the task of the church: to tell the people worshipping at altars of “unknown” gods, that it is the Creator, the Prince of Peace, whom they are seeking in their meditations and spiritual yearnings for peace.

As Paul declares elsewhere, “And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” (Romans 10: 14)

Before we can proclaim, we must know ourselves. Here’s the 15 minute pathway Herb Miller outlines:1. Gratitude: Every day—acknowledge 3 blessings.2. Intercession: Every day—ask God to help 3 people.3. Repentance: Every day—ask for forgiveness –specific mistakes/sins over the course of the day and to help you forgive others.4. Intercession: Every day—ask for help for someone you don’t really like.5. Supplication: Every day—ask for insights into you own problems.6. Guidance: Every day—ask for help achieving goals.7. Silence: Every day at the end of the above—3 minutes of silent listening.